Adobe Prepares for Apple-Predicted Flashless World

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. Adobe Flash is a dying elephant. As the rest of the Web has quickly embraced new standards such as HTML5, Adobe kept its game face on. But the end is near, as the company pushes out Adobe Edge, an HTML5 tool that keeps up with the times.

Flash isn't dead — yet. But if it ever does fall out of use, Adobe will be prepared with its new Edge tool. Like Flash, Edge will be used to create rich animations. And just like Flash, creating funny animated parodies involving Chuck Norris will be super familiar, with frames slapped onto a timeline.

Basically, Edge isn't a complete departure from Flash, which is a good thing for developers and end users.

As PC World points out, the effects are going to be huge for mobile devices that do not run Flash, which is every single iPad and iPhone.

Everybody knows Flash is a huge battery hog (go ask anybody who owns an Android device or PlayBook tablet). Adobe's not abandoning Flash, it's just giving it a new baby brother — and like a younger sibling, Edge is going to help create content that loads faster, runs smoother and is generally more flexible than its aging brother.

HTML5 isn't the winner, not by a longshot, but it's definitely starting to look like it can has the stamina to outrun Flash in the long run.